The Little Pup that Could: Katie's Story: The Understanding of Need
by Star Holder Commander
Summary: While The PAW Patrol's adventures with their new friend Amber are not over now they take a short pause. Katie has started to feel slightly overwhelmed by all the need for help with animals since the Paw Patrol left. Can she pull it together? And, what is the eye disease that Amber has? (I don't own PAW Patrol) (Done in collaboration with the author kristelrose)


**Chapter 6.5: Katie**

It was a bright day in Adventure Bay. Sun was shining and no clouds to be seen. Captain Turbot happened to be happily fishing in the bay, no problems for a change. Mayor Goodway was happily cleaning her office. "So much paper work to do but I can't wait," she said to herself out loud. Alex and Mr. Porter were just playing ball out on the soccer field. All of the citizens were in a good mood except for one.

"I WILL BE RIGHT THERE!" Katie shouted as she ran again to the telephone. Ever since the Paw Patrol had left it seemed like Katie could not get anything done. With two dog's with sprained paws, Chikaletta with a broken leg, and the Kittens of Disaster (They accidently exploded their vehicle) all in coma's under her care. Aside form that Callie was gone and being snobbish because Katie could not give her the attention she carved. It was not going to be a good day, or week, from Katie's point of view.

Katie put down the phone in exasperation. It was another call asking about a medication change for a young pup with bowel problems. Nothing was working with that young pup right now and his owners were calling nonstop asking for something new to try.

Katie was really not in good shape at the moment. "I need to hire some help," Katie said quietly. She was really in despair. "Having a bad day?" a kind voice said from behind her. Katie turned to see, to her surprise, a young man perhaps in his 30's. "Dr. Johnson!" Katie exclaimed, and in a fit of excitement, raced forward and hugged him.

Dr. Johnson had been her mentor as Katie learned to become a vet and care taker of animals. (A/N: Remember that this is a slightly alternate universe.) Katie still could remember the patient way that Dr. Johnson had mentored her though all the ups and downs of being a protégé veterinarian so young. "Why are you here?" Katie asked. "I am here because you need the help. I want to take over for a time, with your permission of course, so you can relax." "THANK YOU!" Katie said a little too loudly. "No problem. Now get out of here. I will take care of the Pet Place. You just take a week to recover from all of his madness."

With another thank you Katie was out the door. She went home and also was able to reconcile with Callie. Several days passed and Katie got somewhat bored. She started thinking about their new friend Amber and her strange eyesight. 'I wonder about that,' Katie thought. 'Her eyes shake so much and with all the other side effects I noticed while at the carnival I think I know where to look to find a least some answers.'

Katie went to her computer and started her research by looking in some of her online text books that she still owned. With very little to go on she did not get much. She then went and scoured many websites that had information about eyesight problems that differing animals might get. It was really frustrating to find that not much seemed to match what she knew.

"Dang," Katie said out loud. "Well here goes one more search." She decided to put all of what she knew into the search bar and hit enter. One interesting hit came from WebMD. 'What's this?' Katie mused as she looked over the page. 'Leber Congenital Amaurosis? This looks almost exactly like Amber's condition.'

As Katie scrolled down the page she read:

Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA) is a rare genetic eye disorder. Affected infants are often blind at birth. Other symptoms may include crossed eyes (strabismus); rapid, involuntary eye movements (nystagmus); unusual sensitivity to light (photophobia); clouding of the lenses of the eyes (cataracts); and/or a cone shape to the front of the eye (keratoconus). LCA is usually inherited as an autosomal recessive genetic condition.

'Wow,' Katie thought, 'I have to alert Ryder. This could change everything. I have to hurry.' Katie looked at the clock and relized it was somewhat late. She did not care.

About Four hours out from the lookout, the pups were all asleep on the Air Patroller. However, Ryder's insomnia had struck again and he was wide awake. Robodog barked at him telling him to go to bed but Ryder just shook his head. "Sorry Robodog but I just can't sleep. Even though we have to return to get more gear it feels like we are abandoning the mission. I know this really is not true but it is just hard leaving Marshal and Amber in the hands of the enemy/opponent."

Just as Ryder stopped speaking Robodog barked loudly about an incoming transmission. "On screen," Ryder ordered. It appeared on the front screen and Ryder was surprised indeed. "Katie?!" Ryder exclaimed. "No time Ryder. I am transmitting information to you about Amber's condition. Your mission could be more time critical then you think."

After a three hour conversation Ryder smiled and said, "Good work Katie." I will wake the pups and tell them what you have learned." "Thanks Ryder. Over and out."

At that moment Robodog alerted Ryder that that were only one hour out. Ryder woke the pups and briefed them before distributing breakfast. By the time all of that was done the Lookout and Adventure Bay was in sight.

Their mission might be more critical now but that would not matter. NO JOB IS TOO BIG, NO PUP IS TOO SMALL! They are . . . PAW PATROL!

PAWPAWPAWPAWPAWPAWPAWPAWPAWPAWPAWPAWPAWPAWPAWPAWPAW

Star Holder Commander: Well now they know. It is time to move and move fast. Unfortunately, I had to call upon my World Walker powers. Kristelrose fell through a plot hole a while back and has yet to recover from the experience. You might not be able to understand how hard it is to return from that problem. Either way, I was able to get her out of the plot hole but now it is up to her to recover from that experience. No worries, she will be back but now you will not have to wait so long for something to come out of this.

WebMD is owned by their owner. I own nothing but my ideas that kristelrose has been allowed to use. Also I own the characters of Sara-Lyn and Captain Leonas Walker. All other characters are that of their owners.


End file.
